The Atlanta Falcons announced today that rookie safety Dezmen Southward and linebacker Pat Angerer will miss time due to recent injuries. Both players were held out of Thursday’s afternoon practice with a knee injury and concussion, respectively.

Southward missed his first practice earlier today, but will still be able to participate in morning walkthroughs in upcoming practices. Southward is expected to miss a week.

Angerer left Tuesday’s practice early with an apparent leg injury, but it has later revealed that he was suffering from headaches and the team finally confirmed today that he was suffering from a concussion. He is currently in the league’s concussion protocol, so there is no timetable for his exact return to the practice field, which will have to be determined by team doctors.

Southward is competing as the team’s top reserve at safety, and with second-year player Zeke Motta currently on the team’s training camp Physically-Unable-to-Perform list, it leaves the team inexperienced at the safety position. Second-year safety Kemal Ishmael, who appeared in four games in 2013, is now the team’s lone reserve safety with NFL game experience.

Angerer was signed just prior to camp to shore up depth at inside linebacker, but his absence leaves the team without much experience behind starters Paul Worrilow and Joplo Bartu. Tim Dobbins, who was signed in June, is currently the only backup at inside linebacker that has NFL experience. The Falcons did however spend three 2014 draft picks on inside linebackers: Prince Shembo (fourth round), Marquis Spruill (fifth round) and Yawin Smallwood (seventh round). All three rookies are likely to see increased reps until Angerer’s return.

Southward was never good in college, he's a work out warrior project, even if perfectly healthy I would be scared to see him on the field this year. Look at the Badger's message boards, prior to the combine they were arguing if he'd be an unrestricted FA or a 7th round pic. By the way I hope he does turn into something, just saying we need to keep our expectations in check as to what he is at the moment imho.

_________________When life gives you lemons, find some salt and tequila then invite me!

I agree Dave. I like Southward's upside, but he needs at least 1 if not 2 years on the bench before he should be expected to play extensively.

He isn't polished enough in the areas necessary to work in Nolan's scheme. He only covered the slot 1 year at Wisconsin, and he got torched at times (see South Carolina's Bruce Ellington in the bowl game). That's not the type of guy that you want to put in a situation where he may be forced to cover guys like Marques Colston, Vincent Jackson, Victor Cruz, or Greg Jennings this year. Refining the footwork and technique to handle such duties is going to take some time to develop.

He's still raw and has a future in Atlanta. But if he's asked to play a lot as a rookie, I think he's going to struggle mightily.

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